


Busy Work

by EvilMuffins



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Late Night Conversations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28845969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilMuffins/pseuds/EvilMuffins
Summary: “We don’t have time tomorrow,” Steven pointed out, eyes wide, as if the reason why were so completely obvious that only someone who had been mesmerized by a Hypno could lack the wherewithal to see it.It was not, in fact, obvious.
Relationships: Mikuri | Wallace/Tsuwabuki Daigo | Steven Stone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	Busy Work

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VSSAKJ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VSSAKJ/gifts).



> Seeing as I'm knee-deep in my first Emerald play-through, I took the liberty of mixing ORAS and Emerald canons just a bit.

Wallace yawned. Without opening his eyes, he guessed that it was probably around three AM, _maybe_ four, but either way it was still dark in their bedroom, and not nearly time to get up. It was a weekend, Wallace was off from both Gym Leader work and Contests, and Steven was still in the midst of a much-deserved break. No more defending his title as Champion; his father was handling things over at Devon, and Steven had even taken a hiatus from hosting his Poketube show ‘ _Rock Your Socks’_ (and all things considered, after having _the_ Brock 'the Rock’ on as a guest, the season finale was pretty hard to top, even Wallace had to admit).

The pre-dawn hours had grown chilly as of late, and Wallace wriggled gently toward the opposite end of the bed, seeking warmth in the form of his partner.

Steven’s side of the bed had grown cold.

Pulling the blanket up and over his head for a moment, Wallace considered rolling over and going back to sleep. He could ask Steven about it in the morning. Unfortunately, Wallace’s brain and Wallace’s feet failed to maintain a clear line of communication at three in the morning.

Sliding out of bed and into his Luvdisc slippers, Wallace bumbled down the stairs—only stubbing his toe once, a new record low—and into the kitchen.

“Steven Stone, love of my life and former Champion of the Hoenn region, what are you doing?”

Steven looked up, blinking as he removed the glasses he only wore for finely detailed work.

“You forgot ‘Heir to the Devon Corporation’,” he added dryly.

Resigned to a long night, Wallace pulled himself up a seat at the kitchen table. “My question still stands.”

With a weary sigh, Steven held out a small object in his palm. Adjusting to the dim light of a single Swanna-neck lamp set up on the table, Wallace blinked, soon registering the item as a pebble.

_Why did I expect any different?_

“It’s lovely,” he responded truthfully. Back when they had first met as teens, Wallace hadn’t understood the beauty of his then-friend’s hobby, but as their affection grew, so did Wallace’s appreciation of the Earth’s bounty. “But what are you doing with it?”

“Polishing it.”

“ _Polishing it,”_ Wallace repeated, watching as Steven went back to work at rubbing the soft cloth over the stone. Finally, Wallace placed his hand overtop Steven’s. “Darling, is everything alright?”

Steven let the pebble rest on the table, returning Wallace’s concerned touch with a little squeeze. “To be honest, my work bench was getting dusty and it’s been bothering me all week. I think I’ll sleep better once I get a few of these cleaned up.”

Fixing Steven with the most loving expression he could muster while still half asleep, Wallace pleaded, “I love you, and you know that I fully support your hobby, but couldn’t this wait until tomorrow? I’ll even help; we’ll do it together.”

Despite Steven’s adventurous spirit while out in the field, the comforts of home typically lulled him into a clockwork schedule. His behavior was definitely unusual, and Wallace couldn’t help but worry. Could Steven be suffering from nightmares? Because anyone would have bad dreams after watching their beloved region flooded by raging seas, with little safety in sight.

“We don’t have time tomorrow,” Steven pointed out, eyes wide, as if the reason why were so completely obvious that only someone who had been mesmerized by a Hypno could lack the wherewithal to see it.

It was not, in fact, obvious.

“Tomorrow’s a Monday, and I’ll be at the Gym. But you’re taking a stay-cation, remember? And I’ll be back to help you by evening.”

“And how do you know that tomorrow’s a Monday, and that you’ll be working at the Gym?” Steven looked pointedly over toward the countertop area where the two kept their keys in a little Alomomola-shaped dish. Beside it sat Wallace’s daily planner, which Lisia had given to him for his last birthday. Knowing her uncle well, she had chosen one decked out in a print of iridescent scales.

Steven also knew Wallace very well. _So well,_ in fact, that it was Steven’s hand-writing filling in each little daily square.

Wallace’s mouth fell open as realization dawned. “Are you meaning to tell me that you’ve been so busy, that you don’t even have a single spare moment during the day for your beloved hobbies? And that reason is… _me?_ ”

A pang rattled around Wallace’s chest, genuinely horrified at the notion that he had been too busy to be more attentive to his partner’s needs.

“Oh, Arceus, no!” Steven scrambled to correct Wallace, leaning bodily across the table to wrap his other hand around Wallace’s as well, clasping his hand in a firm and loving grasp. The hard steel of Steven’s rings pressed warm and comforting against Wallace’s knuckles. “It’s not you, it’s me.” Steven visibly cringed, realizing how cliché that had sounded. “I just worry about you. Your status as a Sootopolitan descendant and lore keeper, the Gym, your agreement with May to take over the League when she inevitably tires of it, Contests… I’m afraid of you burning out.”

“Like you did,” Wallace finished for him quietly.

Steven nodded. “So I thought that if I were to manage everything for you, keep your schedule, take appointments for the incoming Gym challengers, go with you as often as I can to cheer you on…”

Before Steven could finish, Wallace stood abruptly, nearly knocking his chair over, and waking Steven’s Beldum where it rested in its little plush bed by the radiator. It followed him with a sleepy beep as Wallace strode over to the planner, tore out Monday’s page and crumpled it into a tiny ball. “Juan can take over for me tomorrow. The old man will jump at the chance to relive his youth!”

“Dramatic as always!” Steven laughed, rising from the table himself to pat Beldum fondly.

Wallace smirked a particularly wicked grin that Steven rarely saw outside the bedroom. “Oh, so you like that, huh? Well, this’ll get you really fired up.”

The pages for Tuesday and Wednesday followed next, landing straight in the trash. Steven would, of course, move them to the recycle bin the next day for him.

Wrapping his arms around Wallace’s waist, Steven chuckled appreciatively into the crook of his neck. “I knew you were the sexiest man in Hoenn.”

“And don’t you forget it!” Wallace announced, pulling Steven into a ravishing kiss.


End file.
